CSIRO appoints new CISO

CSIRO has hired Jamie Rossato to fill its vacant CISO position and spearhead its cyber security uplift program.

Rossato joined the scientific agency in August after almost three-and-a-half years as information security director at beverage firm Lion.

He reports to CIO Brendan Dalton.

Dalton had overseen both the CIO and CISO roles between March 2022 and last month when Rossato was appointed.

The agency started recruiting for the CISO role in May.

Rossato will now be tasked with overseeing CSIRO’s cyber security program, including integration with overall protective security, alongside crisis leadership, governance and threat monitoring.

Speaking to iTnews, Dalton said cyber security is one of CSIRO’s key technology focus areas.

“We’re making sure that the changes we’re making though out cyber uplift program stick, and we’re broadening out the governance of cyber... into research technology and making sure that we are risk assessing our research technology," he said.

Dalton said the appointment of Rossato was a “recognition” that having one person hold the dual roles of CIO and CISO had “had its day”, but also that CSIRO’s cyber uplift program was “progressing well”.

The last standalone CISO at CSIRO was Damian Walker between September 2019 and September 2021.

Micro-level transformation

One of CSIRO’s biggest focuses last year was the onboarding of its new high-performance computer (HPC), Virga, which was built by Dell.

Primarily aimed at helping build CSIRO’s AI capabilities, Virga is also playing a “quiet” role in helping the agency’s steady digital transformation process.

“There’s a focus on doing business more efficiently and the governance of that business,” Dalton told iTnews.

“And then there is almost the micro-level transformation. We’re helping the [staff] onboarding process, making it more efficient and secure – making sure they’re on the IT network.

“There’s also the ongoing digital efficiency work that [CDO] Rebecca Ostergaard is leading.”

From a research perspective, CSIRO is currently reviewing its entire science portfolio to assess how each department can adopt artificial intelligence capabilities.